Door support and guidance mechanism



April 8, 1969 E. HALPERN DOOR SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE MECHANISM Sheet L of 2 Filed May 4, 1966 ll Hll III II INVENTOR. ERNST HALPERN ATTORNEY April 8, 1969 E. HALPERN 3,436,864

DOOR SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE MECHANISM Filed May 4, 1966 6 Sheet 2 of 2 ,5 F l6 39- 37 5 3s FIG. 4

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ERNST HALPERN "I a I MA TQBLlELuW GUIDANCE MECHANISM Plainview, N.Y., assignor to Williamsburg Brooklyn, N.Y., a corpora- 3,4 DOOR SUPPORT AND Ernst Halpern,

Steel Products Company, tion of New York Filed May 4, 1966, Ser. No. 547,529 Int. Cl. Ed 13/02 U.S. Cl. 49425 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to means for supporting the base of doors at their base, and guiding the upper edge of the doors, particularly to such means provided in elevator doors.

Heretofore, sliding doors used, for example, in elevators, were supported by suspending them at the top and guiding them at the base. The suspension hardware for such doors was relatively complex in order to support adequately the Weight of the door. It was not uncommon to use a heavy track member in conjunction with equally heavy rolling hangers at the top area of the door. The heavy track was necessary in order to prevent excessive deflections of the track due to the weight of the door, because such deflections may result in jamming instances of the door as the latter moves along its path between the closed and open positions. In conjunction with the use of such heavy track and hanging hardware, extensive construction was required to fasten the track in place so that it is safely supported by the building structure or wall. The arrangements heretofore used for supporting the doors did not take into consideration the fact that the floor sill itself supports a sturdy and reliable means for sustaining the door. The present invention utilizes the structure. Since floor sills are, generally, present at the base of the door frames, it is not necessary to provide a separate member in the form of a track or rail for supporting the doors. The floor sills, moreover, are structurally adequate to support the doors, since they are specifically designed to withstand heavy loads such as may be passed over them for transfer into the elevator car. Furthermore, floor sills are normally equipped with slots which may be used for guiding the door along a specifically designated path. Through the application of the floor sill, therefore it is possible to dispense with the overhead track and door hanging hardware.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means by which floor sills support and guide sliding doors.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means by which sliding doors operate with ease and move between their open and closed positions in a smooth manner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means by which sliding doors are accurately guided along their path between the open and closed positions.

atent 0 A still further object of the present invention is to provide means by which the guidance members for the sliding doors may be adjusted to compensate for the possible manufacturing and construction variations.

Other objects and features appear in the following description and specification taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view showing the door in corijunction with its supporting and guiding mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1, and shows the door in relation to the floor sill and the door frame;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional side view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, and shows, in detail, the means and mechanism for supporting and guiding the door;

FIGURE 4 is a front view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3, and shows the adjustment mechanism for compensating manufacturing and construction variations possible in the assembled parts as well as in their installation.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the present invention, a door support comprises a door operating in conjunction with a slotted floor sill, characterized by means for supporting the door at its base, the support means being associated with the slot in the door sill. The door is provided with means for guiding the upper edge of the door to maintain the door balanced and upright in all positions of the door. The floor sill and the means for guiding the upper edge of the door are provided with leveling means.

As shown in the drawings, the sliding door 10 is supported by the Wheels 11 riding in a groove present in floor sill 12. The floor sill 12 is held in position by the sill supports 13. These supports comprise -L or angleshaped members fastened together, and serve to retain the sill at a fixed distance above the building floor 14. The supports 13 are situated along the length of the sill, and they are spaced so that the deflection of the sill at any point does not exceed the tolerable amount. A sill bracket is, generally, interposed between the floor sill and the supports 13.

To maintain the sliding door in an upright and stable position, the upper edge of the door is guided by means of a slot and T-member arrangement which is located behind cover plate 15. The T-rnember 16 extends along the entire path of the door.

The relationship of the sliding door to the floor sill and its surrounding environment, is illustrated in FIG- URE 2. The edge of the sill facing the elevator shaft is denoted by 12a. The groove in the sill which contains the wheels 11 of the sliding door, is designated by 24. The door frame 17 overlaps the sliding door 10, and serves as the border of the opening to the elevator shaft or passenger car. The door frame 17 is held in position by means of brackets 18. These brackets assure that the door frame is properly located to provide adequate clearance spaces between the sliding door and the frame. The brackets also ascertain that the door frame is joined to the building wall 19 so that a smooth and continuous surface is realized at the junction between wall and door frame. The sliding door ltl possesses a non-vision Wing 20* which serves to cover the space between the elevator car and the door so that passengers entering or leaving the car do not have a visible view into the interior of the elevator shaft. Bracket 18a locates the door frame with respect to the non-vision wing, and maintains that part of the door frame properly fixed in position.

The details of the assemblies by means of which the door is supported and guided, is shown in FIGURE 3. The door is typically of sheet metal construction. At the lower edge of the door, a Z-shaped member 21 joins the two panels of the door and forms the bearing mounting for the wheels 11, in conjunction with the side of the door facing passengers waiting for the arrival of the elevator car. An L-shaped member 22 abuts the Z-shaped member 21, and serves to reinforce that section of member 21 and the door panel which forms the support for wheels 11. The wheels 11 are freely rotatable by means of ballbearings 23.

Within the groove or slot 24 normally present in the floor sill 12, resides a member 25 of rectangular cross section. This member 25 serves as track upon which the wheels 11 ride. The wheel 11 includes a flange 11a situated within the space between member 25 and an edge of the slot 24. The flange 11a assures that the wheel and hence the door are confined to move along the slot 24 in the floor sill. The floor sill 12 is located on the support 13 by means of the sill bracket 26. Through the application of screw 27, the sill is properly aligned to assure an accurately situated path for the door 10. The sill bracket 26 is fixed to the support 13 which is made adjustable through means of the slots 28 and the bolt 29. Thus the height of the sill 12 above the building floor 14 may be varied by changing the relative position of the two L-shaped members which constitute the support 13-. The slots 28 and bolt 29 allow the two Irshaped members to be fastened together in different relative positions.

The sill bracket 26 has also a threaded hole to hold a screw 30 from which a fascia plate 31 may be suspended.

The side panels of the door 10 are joined at the top edge by the Z-shaped member 32. Fixed to this Z-shaped member 32, is an L-shaped member 33. The two members may be joined together by means of, for example, welds 34. A second L-shaped member is attached to the member 33 by means of the screw 41. L-shaped members 33 and 35 are situated with respect to one another so as to form, in combination, a U-shaped member. To the top of L-shaped member 35, is fixed the member 37 which is also U-shaped. The member 37 provides a slot within which track 16 rides. Track 16 is fixed to the header 38 which is, in turn, mounted to the door frame and serves as a structural support for the track.

Track 16 in combination with the slot associated with member 37, serves to guide the upper edge of the door 10 as the latter moves between its closed and open positions. Therefore, track 16 in conjunction with floor sill 12 fully confine the door and guide it accurately along its path. The weight of the door is transmitted to the wheels 11, and therefore the door rolls along its designated path with ease and in a smooth manner. To provide for low frictional effects between track 16 and the U-shaped member 37, as the latter slides along the track with the door, the internal walls of member 37 are lined with bearing material 39. This bearing material has a wellfinished surface as well as lubricating properties. Therefore, by lining the walls of the slot, formed by member 37, with such bearing material, a well-operating nonsticking guidance mechanism is obtained for the top of the door.

L-shaped member 35 is made adjustable with respect to member 33 to permit alignment of the U-shaped member 37 with respect to track 16. Such an adjustment feature is desirable to compensate for the manufacturing variations in the structural members as well as for any non-parallelism that may exist between floor sill 12 and the track 16. The adjustment is made possible by providing slots 40 in member 35 one of which is shown in FIGURE 4 and a tapped hole in member 33. The slot 40 is inclined with respect to the edges of member 35 and, accordingly the member 35 may be raised or lowered in relation to the top edge of the door. Depending on the height of member 35 above the top edge of the door, the screw 41 may be located at any position along the length of the slot. In the configuration of FIGURE 4, member 35 is at its highest position. As member 35 becomes lowered, the position of screw 41 moves along the slot toward the left. When member 35 is at its lowest position, screw 41 passes though both left ends of the slot.

Although the same adjustment feature could be realized by providing merely vertical slot in the member 35, the arrangement of FIGURE 4 is the preferred one. By inclining the slot, in the manner shown, rather than providing it entirely vertical, favorable load-carrying capabilities of the members are obtained. If, for example, the slot was vertical, there would be a tendency for member 35 to slip downward in time due to the upthrust of the door. Such slippage tends to occur, in general, even though screw 41 is thoroughly tightened in place. Creepage tends to relieve the stresses generated by the initial tightening action, and this results in a reduction of the frictional forces which hold the member 35 in position. By inclining the slot as shown in FIGURE 4, only a small component of the total load is transmitted for support by the frictional forces, and accordingly less reliance is placed on the tightening action of the screw 41. The inclination of the slot, therefore, provides a simple way in which to retain the member 35 in a stable position.

The details for the wheel upport are shown in FIG- URE 3 and comprise an axle 43 provided with a threaded aperture 49 adapted to accommodate a screw 50. A washer 51 is interposed between the head of the screw and the cover plate 52. Separators 53 are located between the cover plate and the wheel 11. By this means, the wheel is r-otatably mounted turning o the ball bearings 23. It will be realized that this illustrative means of support may be varied depending upon the existing conditions.

The guidance and track member above the upper edge of the door, are concealed through means of cover plate 15. The latter is attached to the upper fascia plate 42 by means of screw or fastening device 43. Fascia plate 42 serves the same function as fascia plate 31 which has already been described. At the same time, the function of cover plate 15 is similar to that of fascia plate 42, with the exception that the cover plate is intended for the specific task of masking the tructural mechanism above the upper edge of the door and for easy removal and servicing the guidance hardward. Depending on the area between floors within elevator shaft, one or more fascia plates may be used to cover up that area.

I claim:

1. An elevator door construction including a movably mounted door having an adjustably mounted U-shaped guide supported on the upper edge of said door, a door frame having a fixedly mounted track member partially disposed in said U-shaped guide and slida'bly engagable with bearing material on the intern-a1 side walls of said U-shaped guide, said U-shaped guide on said door being mounted on a pair of adjustable L-shaped members connected by fastening means disposed in an inclined slot in one of said L-shaped members, said door having a flanged wheel mounted on the base thereof, a floor sill having a track member for said door wheel to roll on and a slot for receiving said flanged portion of said door wheel, said floor sill being mounted on a bracket sup ported by a pair of L-shaped member having oppositely inclined slots and fastening means extending through said slots to selectively adjust the position of said bracket and said sill in the vertical direction.

2. The elevator door construction of claim 1 wherein the first of said L-shaped member is fixedly mounted 6 on said door and the second L-shaped member has said 2,893,069 7/1959 Kessler 49-452 U-shaped guide fixedly attached thereto and has an in- 5, 196 Metzger 49425 XR clined slot for adjustably connecting said second L-shaped member to said first L-shaped member by said fasten- FOREIGN PATENTS ing means. 5 613,397 -1"1/-1948 Great Britain.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 587,492 8/1897 Prouty 16-105 2,889,587 6/1959 Peterson 49-452 49-452 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner. 

